In Return To Bicycling Beginnings General Motors To Start Making E-Bikes

General Motors is to make and market two electric bicycles in 2019. The pedal-assist e-bikes will feature proprietary GM technology created at the corporation’s engineering and development center in Oshawa, Ontario. GM has been working on the e-bikes since 2015 when GM’s CEO Mary Barra said in a press conference that a concept e-bike would be “designed to help people stay mobile in an increasingly difficult-to-navigate urban landscape.”

An Urban Mobility Solutions division was formed in Oshawa, and 18 months ago staff hired from the bicycle industry, including director Hannah Parish, previously the Marketing Director, North America, for Cycling Sports Group, owner of the Cannondale, Schwinn and GT bicycle brands. A year ago Jenni Cathcart joined as marketing and innovation manager at the new division – she has also worked at Cycling Sports Group, and between 2004 and 2006 she was the Women Specific Design product manager at Trek Bicycle of Wisconsin.

It’s historically apt for the Urban Mobility Solutions division to focus on bicycles because some of GM’s earliest automotive brands started out in the 1890s as bicycle companies. Soon after it was founded in 1908, General Motors absorbed the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, forerunner to GMC. GMC – or the Grabowsky Motor Company – was founded as a bicycle maker in 1897. And Louis Chevrolet, co-founder of the eponymous car company, was a champion bicycle racer in his native France, and, along with his two brothers, he created a company that made Frontenac-branded bicycles. (After a 1916 falling out with the founder of GM, Chevrolet and his brothers created the Frontenac Motor Corporation which made parts for Henry Ford’s Model T.)

GM's e-bike features a GM-made mid-motor.

GM

GM’s new e-bikes – one of which folds – have been designed by, among others, staffers from the bicycle industry, said Parish: “We blended electrification engineering know-how, design talents and automotive-grade testing with great minds from the bike industry to create our e-bikes.”

GM has not released any tech specs for its proposed e-bikes but, from supplied photographs, they appear to have two-piece aluminum frames featuring integrated accessories such as head- and tail-lights. Cathcart said the e-bikes would be “connected” which means GM is working on a control unit that can link to a smartphone in order to change power outputs and other settings. Most bicycle brands use motors from companies such as Bosch and Shimano, but Cathcart said the GM bikes would be equipped with mid-motors developed by GM.

Cathcart told Forbes.com: “We’ve been developing drivetrain technology for more than a hundred years, and some of the same engineers that [today] work on automotive motors are now dedicated to making an awesome motor for our e-bikes.”

She added that the motor was “developed [by GM] from the ground up.”

GM had been working with e-bike motor maker BionX until last year. According to Bicycle Retailer, GM paid BionX for the design and engineering of a mid-motor system and agreed to purchase 8,000 units at approximately $1,000 each. BionX later said the units would cost $1,400 each, and that the company would need financial assistance – at this point GM pulled out of the deal and BionX collapsed.

Last year GM registered two trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the bicycles category. These were for Merge and Maven Merge, the corporation’s mobility and car-share marques. However, GM has since decided not to use those brand names for the e-bikes. Instead, it is to launch a crowdsourcing competition to come up with a name, with the winner receiving $10,000 and nine runners-up each winning $1,000. The suggested brand name should be “easily understood” and “simple, smart and bold,” said Cathcart. The competition is being hosted at eBikeBrandChallenge.com and will be open through November 26th.

Last year, General Motors announced all of its motor vehicles would be electric by 2023.

Cathcart said GM’s move into the e-bike space was to offer consumers flexibility: “We’re not saying give up your car and be fully committed to riding an e-bike. We’re saying an e-bike is a great part of your transportation solution. Maybe it’s for shorter trips? An e-bike can be a really great choice in that context.”

She added: “An e-bike solves a lot of challenges that preclude people from riding a bike for urban commuting or riding more often. You don’t have to worry about big hills, you don’t have to worry about showing up at your desk sweaty.”

The to-be-named e-bikes will be released in 2019, but GM has not yet specified a launch date.